Mar/Apr 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

Cyber Patrol You Need MoreThan a Network Security Provider …You Need a Samuel L. Jackson By Robert Stubbs Just when things are humming along (business is booming), the characters (employees and custom- ers) have all been identified, and the storyline is well underway (hitting milestones, growing, etc.), Jackson ap- pears. At that moment, you lean over and whisper to your buddy, “Man, he’s in everything.” This is what a company should ex- pect from its network security: ubiquitous, formidable and lethal. In other words, “Not to be … ahem … ‘messed’ with.” The most common threats facing any network are simply no match for your Samuel L. Jackson (SLJ). Just look at what he did with snakes, at 30,000 feet. Snakes! A mere virus or worm will surely quiver in its virtual boots at the thought of facing such a foe. If you recall (it’s okay to admit you saw this film), a multi-faceted defense was deployed to thwart the attack. Conventional weapons, such as guns and knives (or in our case, anti-mal- ware), general protective measures (imagine a pile of suitcases as your firewall, brilliant), to the extreme acts of anti-security butt-kicking – shooting a hole in the plane to remove the danger once and for all. If your network security provider isn’t prepared to blow a hole in the side of a plane at 30,000 feet in order to save the mission that is your customer’s security … time to ask yourself some serious questions. Your SLJ is tenacious. Just ask Bruce Willis or Ben Affleck. He will stay after you, day and night, until you comply with his demands. Is your network security compli- ant? All the time? Are you anticipating what’s next? When a business grows, its network security must grow with it. Are you maintaining a constant sched- ule of updates and alerts to manage the rapid-fire changes that evolve faster than a non-male population of Jurassic era man-eaters? If not, you’d better “hang on to your butts.” Your network security providers will maintain these schedules for you and keep things up-to-date before, during and after a change in compli- ance codes and regulations are in effect. This is more than one person can do alone, even if that person is Samuel L. Jackson. It takes an entire team of people, with unique skills and powers, who coalesce into a single- minded unit, respond to every threat with fury, and take a vengeful approach to outside threats. When your SLJ says “please,” what he really means is that he will walk through a tunnel on the other side of the compound, past voracious carnivores, and back again, to ensure your system and your business remains safe. Yes, he died doing this, which does not imply your network security provider should be willing to die for your data. They should, how- ever, be willing to walk through every tunnel in your growing network, so you don’t have to. Your SLJ anticipates the threat, plans the counter-attack and strikes before the kiss of death. It is the shepherd. It is the tyranny. It exists solely in the moment of clarity. Be- cause of it, you can sleep at night, knowing that your business, your customers, your data and your network are unbreakable. A solid network security provider has been around for a long time, has seen a lot of things and has a singular focus: protecting your network. When it comes to your SLJ, you never have to ask yourself: “What have I seen him in?” More likely, you ask: “What haven’t I seen him in?” o Robert Stubbs is the marketing director at NetFortris. H ear me out. Similar to Samuel L. Jackson, an effective network security solution shows up everywhere, in every part of your business. 76 Channel Vision | March - April, 2019